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Famed East LA Teacher Jaime Escalante Joins "English for the Children" Campaign as Honorary Chairman

CONTACT: SHERI ANNIS
(213) 627-0005

October 15, 1997.

Sacramento, CA---Nationally renowned school teacher Jaime Escalante, whose successes were depicted in the 1987 film Stand and Deliver starring Edward James Olmos, has joined California's "English for the Children" campaign as Honorary Chairman.

Mr. Escalante, an immigrant from Latin America, gained national prominence by proving that large numbers of immigrant and working-class Latino public high school students from the East Los Angeles barrio could pass college-level Advanced Placement Calculus examinations. Mr. Escalante is a long-standing critic of "bilingual education."

Prior to beginning his Calculus AP class at Garfield H.S., Mr. Escalante had worked to eliminate the school's "bilingual education" classes, which he felt were holding students back academically. He believes that his successful struggle against native-language instruction was an important contributing factor to the overall academic success of his AP students, and believes children should be taught English as early as possible. "It seems a real tragedy that in many cases our public schools are not teaching English to five- or six-year-old immigrant children, who are at an age when they can so easily learn the language."

Campaign Chairman Ron Unz regards Jaime Escalante's new role in the campaign as a "potential breakthrough" in gaining the public endorsement of Latino opinion-leaders. "All the polls show that most Latino parents dislike "bilingual education" and want their children to be taught English in schools. But even though many Latino leaders privately feel the same way, they're reluctant to attack such a "sacred cow." Now that we have the strong public support of the most famous Latino educator in America, other Latino leaders should find it easier to voice their true feelings. After all, if kids from the barrio are smart enough to learn Calculus, they're smart enough to learn English."

In a related note, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), California's largest teachers' union local, has now scheduled a membership referendum on endorsing the "English for the Children" initiative for the week of November 24th.